Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-20/pfizer-rejected-by-u-s-high-court-on-58-million-prempro-award.html
Pfizer Rejected By U.S. High Court on $58 Million Prempro Award
By Greg Stohr - Jun 20, 2011 10:08 AM ET
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a Pfizer Inc. (PFE) unit’s appeal of a $58 million award to three Nevada women who contracted breast cancer after taking the company’s Premarin and Prempro menopause drugs.
The rebuff leaves the award as the largest to be upheld on appeal in thousands of hormone-replacement drug suits. More than 6 million women took Prempro and other menopause drugs before a 2002 study highlighted their links to cancer. Pfizer and its units at one point faced more than 10,000 claims, according to lawyers for former users.
The Nevada Supreme Court concluded that jurors properly held Pfizer’s Wyeth unit responsible for hiding the breast- cancer risks of Premarin and Prempro. The original 2007 award totaled $134.1 million to Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester. The trial judge later reduced the verdict to $57.6 million.
At the Supreme Court, Wyeth argued that the judge should have ordered a new trial rather than reduce the award. The company contended that the jury was swayed by an “improper and inflammatory” closing argument by the women’s lawyer.
[Article continues at original source]